[BUG] Memory overflow: 184,763 MB/hour growth rate after 7.5s uptime

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

• Claude Code version: 2.1.72
• Node.js version: v24.3.0
• Platform: Linux
• Session ID: 843a585f-05fd-4ba3-a871-3f85641d8577
• Trigger: Manual diagnostics dump
• Symptoms: external memory at 357 MB + array buffers at 58 MB within 7.5 seconds of uptime; growth rate of

~53 MB/sec

843a585f-05fd-4ba3-a871-3f85641d8577-diagnostics.json

What Should Happen?

┌─────────────────┬─────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Metric │ Value │ Notes │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Heap Used │ 390 MB │ Way above heap total (40 MB) — suspicious │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Heap Total │ 40 MB │ Much smaller than heap used — anomalous │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ External Memory │ 357 MB │ Very high — likely the main culprit │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Array Buffers │ 58 MB │ Contributing factor │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼───────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ RSS │ ~404 MB │ Total process memory │
└─────────────────┴─────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┘

Root Cause Indicators

1. external memory (357 MB) is the dominant consumer — this is memory allocated outside V8's heap (C++

addons, Buffers, native modules). This strongly points to a Buffer/stream leak or native addon issue.

1. arrayBuffers (58 MB) is also elevated — likely tied to the same source (e.g., unfreed Buffer allocations

from streaming API responses).

1. heapUsed > heapTotal (390 MB vs 40 MB) is anomalous — this can happen when external/native allocations

are counted in heapUsed but not heapTotal, further pointing to native/Buffer memory.

Likely Scenarios in Claude CLI

• Streaming response buffers not being released — if API response chunks are accumulated without being

garbage collected.

• A large file or conversation context being held in memory (e.g., repeated reads or large tool outputs

buffered in native memory).

• Node.js v24.3.0 + Claude Code v2.1.72

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Just on opening of my cli terminal im met with a memory overflow

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.72

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Other Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_